7 April 2016

Tropic Of Capricorn in Botswana

This might not be a
big deal for many, but it is for me. One of the five imaginary latitude lines on earth
cuts through my country, Botswana, and that’s The Tropic of Capricorn.

Why is it such a big deal?

The tropic of Capricorn
is the circle of latitude that contains the sub-solar point on the Southern
Solstice. In this area, the sun can be directly overhead because it’s deemed
to be the highest point in the Southern Hemisphere where the sun hits.

Even though the line
position is not fixed, I’m pretty sure it still does cut through my country. The
line passes through only 5 African counties which are Botswana, Namibia,
Mozambique, South Africa and Madagascar and 23 other countries around the world
– including small islands in the South Pacific Ocean Area (now you know why it’s
a big deal ey)

Monuments built at The Tropic of Capricorn Sites around the World

In Botswana, on the
22st December each year, at around 12:11pm which is the solar noon,
the sun is directly overhead in that area and there is not a single shadow and
it is on this date that we can OFFICALLY say it’s SUMMER.

The line passes
through Botswana from Kalahari Desert
to Khutse Game Reserve to Kule and the South
of Mahalapye. A small monument
is built South of Mahalapye to observe this phenomenon. This monument is along
the A1 highway
which is a road that runs from the Zimbabwean board in Ramokgwebana (North East
of the Country) to the South African Boarder in Ramatlabana (South East of the
country).

Small Monument in Mahalapye - Botswana

So a quick stop at
this site to capture and have a memory in picture of this site won’t even take
2 mins, so make an effort to have this documented in your Memory Bank. I did so
multiple times, you can’t miss the sign even if you wanted to, it’s as visible
as the moon